BLOOMINGTON – IU athletic director Fred Glass used to refer to the profitable revenue streams opened by Big Ten television contracts and NCAA distributions as “the cavalry over the ridge” as IU, poorer than many of its peers, tried to “hold down the fort” financially.

Such metaphors aren’t necessary anymore.

IU athletics reported revenues of almost $123 million in the 2018 fiscal year, according to its annual NCAA financial report. That marks an all-time high in one-year revenue for Indiana, and it’s more than double the $61 million-plus the department reported in 2009, the year Glass took over.

In total, IU’s athletic department reported $122,933,136 in revenues and $116,277,652 in expenses last year, according to documents obtained by IndyStar via a records request. Both numbers are record highs, and substantial increases on Indiana’s 2017 totals.

FILE – IU has enjoyed sustained financial progress since Fred Glass took over at athletic director in 2009.(Photo: Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar)

The $6,655,484 net profit is IU’s largest in terms of hard dollars (though not when adjusted for inflation) since the NCAA began distributing these reports more than 10 years ago.

“Earlier ADs’ eyes would’ve popped out about the revenue,” Glass told IndyStar, “and their eyes would’ve popped out as well about the expenses.”

Indiana’s numbers are not an outlier in college athletics.

Ballooning TV contracts, conference-specific networks and other factors have exploded revenues across the college landscape in the last decade-plus. The Big Ten, which launched the Big Ten Network in 2007, has remained at the vanguard of that expansion. Last year, IU reported nearly $41 million in media rights, almost $5 million in NCAA distributions and a further $12.62 million in conference distributions.

The Indiana Hoosiers student section cheers during the game against Chicago State at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., on Nov. 6, 2018.(Photo: Bobby Goddin/for IndyStar)

Glass’ department coupled that with almost $10 million in royalties and licensing revenues. And contributions, which have increased every year since 2012 and last year clocked in at almost double what they were 10 years ago, were reported at nearly $25.5 million.

“It’s allowed us to do some things I think we’ve needed to do,” Glass said.

That’s included investing more in coaching salaries. Glass cited the money IU has spent to retain and hire assistant football coaches this offseason, a number that could top $1 million within the next year. He also mentioned the hiring of men’s basketball coach Archie Miller.

A view of the Memorial Stadium field from the Ed Sample Terrace, atop IU's new Excellence Academy. The terrace will have space for fans to gather on game days, and interactive displays and activities for children. Zach Osterman/IndyStar

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It has also allowed Indiana to couple aforementioned revenue streams to those contributions, and either renovate or replace nearly every athletics facility on IU’s campus.

Assembly Hall and Memorial Stadium have both undergone significant renovation. Indiana’s baseball, softball, wrestling and volleyball programs have all received brand new arenas or stadiums. The university’s golf course is in the midst of a sweeping redesign. And Armstrong Stadium, where the Hoosiers’ soccer teams compete, is next.

“I left Bloomington as a graduating senior in 1981, and when I came back as AD in 2009, the physical athletics campus didn’t look a whole lot different,” Glass said. “We’ve really run the gamut of investing in our facilities.”

The newly renovated Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on campus of Indiana University in Bloomington. IU athletic director Fred Glass shows the new windows making the basketball court visible from the entry pavilion. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

The report also includes a line item for more than $1.6 million in “excess transfers to institution,” money paid back to the university by the department.

Glass said it’s common for the athletics department to flow some funds back to IU as a whole. That can take the form of support for academic pursuits, like the department’s involvement in helping establish Indiana University’s new school of global and international studies. Or it can simply be repayment for loans the university fronted the department on certain projects, to cover costs while IU was waiting on pledged donations to arrive.

For the 13th year running, IU athletics also finished its fiscal year in the black. Not since 2005 has the department operated in a single year with expenses greater than revenues, even though IU athletics doesn’t receive money directly from the state or the university.

Those net gains have allowed Indiana to cover necessary expenses to the point that, should financial projections for 2019 hold, IU will be able to create an athletics reserve fund beginning next year.

“Athletics has never had one before, because we’ve been hand-to-mouth just because of circumstances,” Glass said. “That’ll kick in next year and will be money we’re actually able to set aside.”